10 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE MOON

SUBSCRIBE AND GET FREE FRESH TIPS RIGHT INTO YOUR MAILBOX

* indicates required

Email Address *

First Name

Last Name

10 Interesting Facts About The Moon

You see the moon most nights. It’s comforting and reassuring. It’s our always-smiling neighbour. But what are some things you don’t know about the bright shiny object that pierces the darkness? In this article, Beauty and Tips takes a look at 10 interesting facts about the moon.

Mother Moon has been up there for as long as our humble planet has, always smiling down on us, protecting us and guiding the waves. It’s a comforting sight when we see it at night. We always know it’s going to be there, looking down at us. The moon has always held great mystery. The ancients were perplexed by it. Many people down the ages were, until eventually the humans stepped foot on its lunar soil for the first ever time. There is nothing like a full moon on a still summers night. It’s bright, stark and ethereal. If you’re at all fascinated by the moon, let’s take a look at 10 interesting facts.

Only 12 People Have Walked On The Moon

It seems incredible that only a handful of people have stepped onto the moon’s lunar surface since the Apollo 11 mission back in 1969. But because it’s so expensive and there seems little point in sending more people up there, that’s just the way it is. Unmanned vehicles do visit it from time to time, but no humans.

It’s No Where Near As Bright As The Sun

A full moon gets pretty bright. It shines into our windows and lights up the street. But as bright as the sun is, it’s no where near as bright as the sun. In fact, it would literally take around 400,000 moons for it to be as bright as the sun. Wow. That tells you one thing: The sun is pretty darn bright! The full moon has a magnitude of -12.7, whereas the sun has a magnitude of -27.6. There is a difference between the two of around 398,1110 to 1. That’s crazy. No wonder we have to shield our eyes from the sun! Sorry moon – as it turns out, you’re just not that powerful!

Here Is How The Moon’s Craters Are Named

Rules are rules. And when it comes to naming a crater on the moon, rules have to be adhered to. The lunar creators are all really old, and were created by comets and asteroids that slammed into our poor moon some millions of years ago. They are all named after explorers, artists, scholars and scientist. There is an Archimedes crater in honour of Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, as well as a Copernicus Crater, which was named after the Polish astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus. The very first crater to be name was Oceanus Procellarum. This was way back in 1645, in honor of Phillip IV of Spain. Want a crater named after you? Well, you know what you’ve gotta do.

Beauty and Tips Crater has a ring to it …

There Is No Atmosphere On The Moon

With no atmosphere, the moon can be plagued by all kinds of solar winds, meteorites, and cosmic rays. Poor little moon! Worse still, it means the sky is always black (eew!), and you can’t hear any sound. So weird and scary.

The Moon Has “Earth” Quakes

Naturally, the moon can’t have earthquakes because it isn’t earth. But it has its own equivalents, which scientists call moonquakes. Scientists reckon our planet’s gravitational pull is to blame, and that the quakes come from underneath the moon’s surface.

The Moon Has Wildly Differing Temperatures

If you thought it was crazy that parts of the earth can be scorching hot while other parts can be freezing cold AT THE SAME TIME, just check out the moons wildly different temperatures. The temperature around the lunar equator tends to hover around minus 173 C during the night, and a high of 127 during the day. How would you know what to wear?! Meanwhile, if you ever did get a crater named after you and decided to visit it, you’d have to put-up with sub-zero temps of around -400 C at worst.

The Moon Was Formed After The Solar System

Maybe surprisingly, the moon isn’t as old as the solar system it inhabits. Also known as Luna, the moon didn’t come into existence until up to 50,000,000 years after the solar system was already flourishing. Don’t go thinking it’s a young, erstwhile newbie, though. It may not have been around as long as the solar system, but it’s still 4,600,000,000 years old.

There Is No Such Thing As The Dark Side Of The Moon

There is something fascinating about this idea that there is a dark, unseen side of the moon. The rock band Pink Floyd christened their album after the idea, and it’s gone down in legend as a place where strange people inhabit. There has even been rumours that Elvis lives there! Unfortunately, as romantic as this myth is, that’s all it is – a myth. The truth is that there is no such thing as a dark side of the moon. Both sides receive equal amounts of sunlight. What is true, however, is that we only ever get to see one side of the moon. Why? It’s because of the way it orbits the earth on its own axis. We only get to see one face. So while the other face isn’t dark, there is no guarantee that it doesn’t hide Elvis. Spooky!

The Moon Is Leaving Us

Yup, mother moon no longer loves us and is leaving us! What we really mean is that the moon is drifting away from us by 3.8cm each year. Because it will continue to drift away from us, it will eventually take forty-seven days to orbit our planet. At the moment, it orbits the earth in 27.3 days.

The Moon Isn’t Round

Nope, the moon isn’t round. It isn’t even a bit round and never has been. All those drawings of the moon? Totally unrealistic. The moon is actually shaped more like a lop-sided egg.

All content of this site is entirely unique and copyrighted, if you want to share a piece of our content, then place an active link back to www.beautyandtips.com.

All information on this site carries only informative and not recommendatory character. Please, ask the advise of your doctor, instead of self-treatment. We will always attempt to provide the best and most accurate information possible here at www.beautyandtips.com, but you are responsible for your own actions. We will not be held liable for anything that happens from the use of the information here.